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Monday 29 March 2004

The World Today is a comprehensive current affairs program which backgrounds, analyses, interprets and encourages debate on events and issues of interest and importance to all Australians. Below is the program summary with links to transcripts and audio (if available).

White House attack on Clarke could backfire: political observers

In the United States, the White House is continuing its vendetta against its former senior adviser on counter-terrorism, Richard Clarke. In his book, Against All Enemies, and in testimony before the 9/11 commission, Mr Clarke accused President Bush of having a weak record on terrorism before the attacks on New York and Washington. Some political observers in Washington believe the tactics by the White House are now becoming so vitriolic that they could backfire.

NAB allegations must be independently investigated: expert

As the NAB Board gears up for a meeting to formalise moves aimed at ousting dissident Director, Catherine Walter, one of Australia's leading corporate law academics has called for an independent inquiry into sensational allegations raised by Ms Walter. Among them, suggestions that the Board intervened to have a supposedly independent report into its foreign exchange dealing scandal re-drafted before it was publicly released.

Older Australians bearing financial burden of adult children: survey

There's more evidence today that older Australians are bearing the financial burden of their adult children. Not only are young Australians staying at home longer, they're also increasingly counting on mum and dad to help them buy their first home.

Govt denies plans to cut pensions, allowances

The Federal Government says it will not be cutting pensions, allowances or benefits in the May Budget or at any time after that. The Family Services Minister, Kay Patterson, has rejected Opposition claims that a leaked Cabinet document shows the Government is considering a new "working age" payment that would effectively cut future payments to hundreds of thousands of disability support pensioners, carers and sole parents. Senator Patterson told The World Today that that won't happen.

Australian swimming damaged by own rules

Whether it likes it or not, Australian Swimming's rigid application of the rules at the weekend, disqualifying Ian Thorpe from his pet event, the 400-metres freestyle, is proving a major distraction for all involved. Today, swim coaches and officials are pleading for the controversy to go away. But with pressure continuing to grow on Craig Stevens to give up his place in the event for his friend, Ian Thorpe, there's intense speculation over how the dilemma will be resolved.

Vigilant, but not jumpy: UK terrorism message

In Britain, The Sunday Times newspaper has claimed that al-Qaeda originally intended to attack 10 targets in the United States on September 11. The paper also claimed that the massive security operation at London's Heathrow Airport in February last year was in response to a real threat by al-Qaeda. Some commentators are suggesting it's all part of the Government's strategy to ensure the public doesn't become complacent or even worse, fatalistic, about the threat of an attack.

Hamas leader labels Bush 'enemy of God'

The new leader of Hamas in Gaza, Abdul Aziz Rantisi, has lashed out at President Bush. Dr Rantisi says Mr Bush is an enemy of God and an enemy of the entire Muslim world. Thousands of Hamas supporters have rallied to pay tribute to Hamas founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was assassinated last week by Israeli forces. And there's increasing tension there as Hamas calls on all Arab nations to take action against Israel.

Perkins 'disgusted' at calls for Stevens to step-down

Australian swimming legend, Kieren Perkins, says he's disgusted by suggestions that Craig Stevens should step aside to allow Ian Thorpe to contest the 400-metres freestyle event at the Athens Olympics. He himself was involved in a similar situation in the lead-up to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Like Thorpe, he was the world record holder in the 400-metre freestyle at the time, but failed to qualify. Enormous pressure was placed on the second place getter to stand aside, but at Perkins' urging he refused to budge.

Govt working on terror white paper

The Prime Minister has revealed that the Federal Government's latest anti-terrorism measure is to commission a white paper to analyse the threat and the appropriate responses. Labor has dismissed the idea as something that should have been done after the Bali bombings, with Opposition leader Mark Latham calling for action rather than words. However, the announcement comes as the Coalition does seem set to win Opposition approval for its latest moves to beef up its anti-terror legislation.

Victorian Police to review AFL complaints

With new allegations against AFL players now emerging regularly, the Victorian Police Force says it'll now review all complaints made against footballers in the last five years. This means it could re-open some inconclusive investigations that had been closed.

Embarrassment, stopping reporting of fraud

Is there a stigma attached to being a victim of white-collar crime? It seems that embarrassment and the fear of being seen as vulnerable are stopping people from reporting cases of fraud. That's the word from the Australian Institute of Criminology's Deputy Director of Research, Dr Russell Smith, who's addressing a summit on fraud in Sydney this afternoon.

Al-Qaeda planned further attacks on US soil: report

Transcripts of the interrogation of the man believed to be behind the September 11 attacks state that al-Qaeda was planning broader attacks on targets across the United States. Tom Sanderson, Deputy Director of the Transnational Threats Initiative at the Centre for Strategic and International Relations, has been telling The World Today that "KSM" or Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is widely considered to be a credible witness.